CConiferonifer QQuarterlyuarterly Vol. 29 No. 3 Summer 2012 Red Buttes Layers in the Klamath Mountains Photo by Michael Kauff mann In Pursuit of Pinsapos Brewer Spruce Photos by Tom Cox Photo by Michael Kauff mann The Conifer Quarterly is the publication of the American Conifer Society Contents 4 President’s Message 6 Editor’s Corner: My Addicted Conifer Syndrome 9 Developing A Dedicated Dwarf Conifer Garden in North Carolina 14 Come to California Wine Country! 18 In Pursuit of Pinsapos Vol. 29 No. 3 CONIFER QUARTERLY 1 Contents 24 Reprinted by courtesy of the British Conifer Society Journal A Workshop on Conifers in China and a Visit to the Mountain Tianmu Shan 32 Hoyt Arboretum 36 Conifer Country: A natural history and hiking guide to 35 Conifers of the Klamath Mountain region. 40 Our Dream 2 CONIFER QUARTERLY Vol. 29 No. 3 Larix decidua ‘Pendula’ spring cones. Photo by Ann and David Gunkel. The purposes of the American Conifer Society are the development, conservation, and propagation of conifers, with an emphasis on those that are dwarf or unusual, standardization of nomenclature, and education of the public. Vol. 29 No. 3 CONIFER QUARTERLY 3 arry Nau succeeded me at the end Conifer L of the July 12th ACS Board of Directors meeting. Other changes in the Quarterly Board included Colby Feller becoming the President of the Northeast Region, Summer 2012 Volume 29, No 3 and Jim Kelley the new President of The Conifer Quarterly (ISSN 8755-0490) the Central Region. Many thanks went is published quarterly by the American to Frank Goodhart and Chris Daeger Conifer Society. The Society is a non-profi t for their service in the aforementioned organization incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is tax positions. exempt under section 501(c)3 of the Internal The ACS National Meeting in Ann Revenue Service Code. th You are invited to join our Society. Please Arbor, Michigan, of July 12 – 14th had address membership and other inquiries to the a record 297 members registered, and American Conifer Society National Offi ce, 175 the fi rst Conifer College held on July 12th Charisma Lane, Lewisville, NC 27023-9611. Membership: US $30 (indiv.), $35 (joint), $30 had 192 members registered. At one ACS (institutional), $50 (sustaining), $100 (corporate Reference Garden, The Harper Conifer business) and $130 (patron). If you are moving, please notify the National Offi ce 4 weeks in Collection of Dwarf and Rare Conifers advance. at Hidden Lake Gardens, attendees were All editorial and advertising matters should given the chance to vote for their favorite be sent to: Ron Elardo, 5749 Hunter Ct., Adrian, MI 49221-2471, (517) 902-7230 conifers. or email [email protected] Congratulations went to Gary Gee, Editor Stockbridge, Michigan, who received Ronald J. Elardo the 2012 Justin C. “Chub” Harper Award Technical Editors of Merit for Development in the Field Jerry Belanger of Conifers. Attendees of the National Steven Courtney Robert Fincham Meeting had the pleasure of visiting Gary Ethan Johnson and Kaye Gee’s family farm on July 14th. R.William Thomas Flo Chaffi n of Specialty Ornamentals, Advisory Committee Larry Nau, Committee Chair Watkinsville, Georgia, received our Sean Callahan highest honor, the Marvin and Emelie Ronald J. Elardo Snyder Award for Dedicated Support of Ethan Johnson Evelyn Cox, past Editor the American Conifer Society. Flo has ex offi cio: Ellen Kelley been a passionate advocate, organizer, ex offi cio: John Martin recruiter and educator who served on the Copyright © 2012, American Conifer Society. All rights reserved. No material contained ACS National Board of Directors. herein may be reproduced in any form without Reference gardens were fi rst prior written permission of the publisher. proposed by Larry Nau and have been Opinions expressed by authors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the Society. very successful in the Southeast Region where Barbie Colvin has set the standard Note: Hardiness Zone references in the Conifer Quarterly are USDA classifi cations unless for administering the program. In the otherwise specifi ed. Northeast Region, the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, 4 CONIFER QUARTERLY Vol. 29 No. 3 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK is to be the home of a fi rst-class conifer as Editor. For that and the quality of this reference garden. In the Central Region, publication he deserves commendation. the Bickelhaupt Arboretum in Clinton, The ACS website has not cost the society Iowa and Powell Gardens in Kingsville, a penny this year. Bill Barger needs to be Missouri, just outside Kansas City, are recognized for this and for the conifers now ACS Reference Gardens. If there he donates to ACS auctions. John Martin is a public garden near you which you has been an exemplary colleague, believe would be willing to participate providing history and perspectives well in this program, please contact your beyond his position as National Offi ce regional president. Manager. It only helps that he is married Which conifers have performed to Sue, who has had the best interests of best in your area and attracted the most the Society in mind from its beginnings. attention? Please send me a list and Please consider collecting seed this perhaps an image or two so that I can year and mailing it to Jim Brackman, our have the results published in Conifer ACS Seed Exchange Chairman. Also, if Quarterly and/or on the ACS website. you have any special conifers you wish I also extend many thanks to all who to promote, Rich Larson, our Conifer have generously donated plants to ACS Registrar, says it only takes 15 minutes auctions. This along with membership to fi ll out a cultivar registration form. dues is a primary source of revenue for Thank you for being a member of the the Society. Meeting registration fees American Conifer Society. It has been a are commonly priced to cover costs distinct honor to serve you. and realize just a small profi t so that attendance can be maximized. Faithfully yours, Our Conifer Quarterly is the primary benefi t of membership. It has been my top priority. Ron Elardo has gone above and beyond his responsibilities EtEthanhhan JoJohnsonhhnson http://DansDwarfConifers.Etsy.com Vol. 29 No. 3 CONIFER QUARTERLY 5 Editor’s Corner: My Addicted Conifer Syndrome which fi rst reaches out and touches the prospective buy. Whether it be the color, the texture, the shape, or even the science behind the specifi c conifer, once hooked, there is only the balance in our checkbook or the limit on our credit card which will hold us back from acquiring “yet another conifer”. Of course, then there is the spousal disapproval, with which we sometimes have to cope. “Ronald, don’t we have enough trees?” “Ronald, things are getting way too crowded. There are so many.” “Ronald, get that conifer out of there. It’s in the way.” “Honey, where shall I move it to?” “Try putting it in a pot. You’ve got all those pots in the barn! ” (My wife started that whole journey.) “Ronald, why haven’t you planted anything on the back acre?” “Yikes! What did she say? I can buy t is 6:00 a.m. The sun is coloring more conifers to fi ll my empty acre? I the top of my 25’ Abies concolor. As Pinch me. Am I dead?” I watch the solar illumination descend Codependency and enabling can lead down the spread of the tree, I recall the us to attempt to quench the seemingly way in which that tree came to live at my unquenchable thirst for “just one more”, house. It was not a small tree. My ACS knowing that all we need do is see was just beginning; in fact, my addiction another love of our life. As I use you as was merely a year old. The fi r’s journey my enabling collective therapist, I must from a local nursery to my front yard is confess something. anything less than colorful. In that story I have failed in my attempt to are the telltale symptoms of ACS which cure myself of the ACS. Behavioral have now gone from wild hunting and techniques are not working. I can’t just collecting to caressing and sniffi ng. change my venue. I can’t go to another I am a very tactile person. As room without seeing a conifer out the we coniferites all know, it is the eye window. Going outside is no better. 6 CONIFER QUARTERLY Vol. 29 No. 3 They are all there, watching me, calling Weeping’ when a waft of aroma was me. Even reading a book in my second carried by a gentle breeze from the tree language German carries me to books on and into my nostrils. I reached out and Nadelgehōlze (conifers). I cannot see the gently cradled a cluster of leaves in forest for the trees. my hands. I pressed the needles to my No matter where I am, the sight of nasal passages. I took a deep breath and a conifer will inevitably send my mind “Mmmmm. Something of a dusty, almost racing to answer such questions as: lemony smell.” Then I started going 1.) How can I get that one? around to my other conifers. Either the 2.) Where will it go in the landscape? base of the cones and their resin or needle 3.) Can I grow it in a decorative pot? clusters touched my olfactory nerves. I 4.) What scent and texture does it have? particularly like Cupressus nootkatensis. Notice, I haven’t asked myself what its It is cedary, but not like cedar wood.